Stakeholders Tasked to Eradicate Female Genital Mutilation in Osun
Yinka Kolawole
In an effort to eradicate female genital mutilation(FGM), civil societies organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations, government workers, and media practitioners in Osun State have been charged to advocate for the end of the practice in the state.
Female genital mutilation and cutting were passed as direct legislation to prohibit the practice under the Osun State Law 2004 and assented to by the Governor to become enforceable on the 12th day of April 2005.
The circumcision of the female girls became illegal and punishable under Section 335, the Criminal Code of Osun State which stated that any person who is guilty of the felony is liable to imprisonment for seven years.
To have zero practice of female genital mutilation in all 30 LGA and one Area Office of Osun, Hacey Health Initiative organised a three-day of capacity building workshop for stakeholders on female genital mutilation, policies, and laws in Osogbo, Osun State capital.
Speaking at the workshop, Director of Legal Drafting, Ministry of Justice, Osun state, Barrister Kayode Titiloye said that female genital mutilation or cutting is grievous bodily harm to the private part of the victim that is against the consent of the victim.
Titiloye further said that the Osun state law for the prohibition of female genital mutilation makes it a crime to submit self for female genital mutilation in the state.
He called for the amendment of the law of Osun state to compel the health workers, public officials, traditional rulers, and religious leaders that discover the mutilation of a child or a woman to report it officially.
“The Osun law for the Prohibition of female genital mutilation makes it a crime to submit yourself for female genital mutilation or courting and anybody who perpetuates such on a minor commits also an offense under the law.
“The justice sector is ready. But the enforcement is the challenge we have with the law because of a cultural orientation of not reporting our neighbors or community orientation of not indicting our neighbours especially you see that the perpetrator of FGM either grandfather, grandmother, father, mother, uncles, aunties, somebody, the family or the community,” he said
Meanwhile, the representative of the Hacey Health Initiative, Mr. Ayo Alabi
disclosed that the workshop was organised to build the capacity of a lot in the society to eradicate the practice of female genital mutilation of which the workshop was equally took place in both Osun, Oyo and Ekiti states.
Alabi stressed that the organisers are trying to build a collaborative effort with government officials, NGOs, CSOs, and media practitioners to ensure that stakeholders reduce the prevalence of FGM.
He commended the residents of the state for their robotic support to eradicate the practice, saying the practice is drastically reduced across the state.
“We have trained over a thousand persons from the political offices, the local government chairmen, the counsellors or the political office holders in the rural areas, and the community leaders and the markets women.
One of the participants, the ministry of women, children and social affairs in the state, Mrs Oluwatoyin Oyetola described the workshop as an enlightenment programme to know the negative effects of FGM to women.
